Seventy years ago, Leo Fender introduced the Stratocaster as an evolutionary step forward from his first solidbody electric guitar. Sleeker and smoother, he wanted it to create sounds more useful to any style of music and musician.

Essentially unchanged today, the Strat remains one of the most-popular guitars in the world (see sidebar), and early models are among the most collectible. Unlikely as it seems in 2024, every so often, one emerges in near-pristine condition.

This ’54 was bought used two years later at Henry’s Music and Jewelry, in Akron, Ohio, so 15-year-old Jackie Diethrich could use it while taking lessons. The younger of John and Virginia Diethrich’s two daughters, she briefly followed in sister Joanne’s footsteps by playing piano, but what she really wanted was a guitar – a desire influenced by the occasional sound of a pedal-steel wafting through the neighborhood on summer evenings, played by a man who lived several blocks away. To plug in, she was also given a spankin’ new Tremolux amp.

After moving from Pennsylvania to the industrial hub of north-central Ohio, the Diethrichs joined the American middle class. John’s first job in Akron was selling shoes, but his plan was always to hire on at Goodyear Tire and Rubber, which he soon did. Virginia, meanwhile, cared for the girls and tended to their home.

“They were very frugal,” recalled Royace Butler, the couple’s grandson and, for the last few years, caretaker of the Strat and an allotment of other family heirlooms. “They had one car. Grandma would drive my grandfather to work every morning, then pick him up every afternoon after his shift. But they encouraged their daughters to explore cultural things, and music was one of them.”

“I was taking music lessons from a man named John Martin, at his house,” Jackie Butler recalled. “And one day he said, ‘I have a friend who really needs money badly and is selling his Fender – it’s a wonderful guitar.’ So my mom and dad jumped at the chance. At the time, Dad only worked a six-hour shift at Goodyear, but he scraped up enough money to buy it and the amplifier for $600, which was a lot of money.”

For the next few years, Jackie played the guitar at lessons and on her own, and it wasn’t long before she was spending time with a young man named Jimmie, who also played guitar. They’d often strum together, and he later became her husband (and Royace’s father).

As Jackie and Jimmie were growing up, Akron and surrounding towns were becoming a musical hotbed. Dan Shinn, who began repairing and refinishing guitars alongside Virgil Lay in 1979 and bought Lay’s Guitar Shop in 1988, says this guitar is the consummate example of the city’s vibrant past.

“The automotive industry treated this area really well, economically, for many years, and people here, including musicians, bought good stuff,” he said. “Royace’s guitar is a perfect example of how the area was once a haven for music and cool guitars. They were all over the place, and many probably still are. This is a perfect example of one that hasn’t left the family, and I’m sure there are others out there.”

After Jackie set it aside, the guitar spent the next 25 years mostly in its case, wrapped in a blanket under the bed, brought out only occasionally to show to a curious friend or family member. As a result, today it exhibits virtually no marks save for a ding on one edge, which Jackie confesses to creating when she was putting it away one day. In 2005, it was appraised at $40,000. Royace took it to Lay’s for its first time last March, where it got its first setup since before “Leave It To Beaver” began to air.

“Dan was pretty happy to work on her,” Butler recalled. “His partner, Steve Givens, wasn’t in that day, and Dan later called to tell me he was disappointed because he didn’t get to see it. So they invited me back with it and the Tremolux for a demo in their venue, The Loft.”

Butler returned in April, and Lay’s employee Nick Killa played the guitar through the Tremolux while the store shot video for social media. Having long thought the guitar needs to enjoy life outside of his gun safe, he was happy to oblige, and the day’s events inspired him to do more with the Strat.

“I am no Youtuber – or a competent musician,” he chuckled. “So I hired a few guys and hosted a recording session at Allen Lind’s Over The Hill studios.”

Audio and video, he says, are nearly finished.

Butler used the Strat to take lessons as a kid, and again later as an adult, but parenting and other adult responsibilities kept him from becoming the player he dreamed of being. But none of that diminished his affection for the guitar and music made with it.

“I fostered my other talents,” he said. “I’m one of the best plumbers in town, and I love hearing a guitar when somebody else is playing. To my mind, musical instruments are artwork as well as tools… Some more so than others (laughs).”

“I’ll tell you what, it’s a really cool guitar,” said Shinn. “What’s especially interesting is the extra screws in its pickguard – two between the bridge and middle pickups, canted like you’d see on a Tele – and the one behind the bridge pickup. They’re a little smaller in diameter than on most Strats, and they look very mapped-out. Also, early-’54s have Bakelite knobs, which look like they were hand-numbered. They weren’t consistent.

“If someone asked whether I think the guitar is completely original or not, I’m going to say it is.”

While he has never seriously pondered selling the guitar, on a whim in 2008, Butler contacted Eric Johnson via social media.

“Much to my surprise, he was interested,” Butler said. “And I very well remember when he called back; I was picking up stuff at Lowes (laughs). He told me that he had recently broken his beloved ’54 Strat, ‘Virginia.’ He made a generous offer, but ultimately, my mother wasn’t able to part with it.”

Has he since contemplated the fate of his ’54?

“I know the reality is at some point I’m going to sell it,” he said. “Hopefully, it’ll end up with somebody who can play it without worrying about giving it a ding. Or maybe it’ll be displayed in a museum.”

This article originally appeared in VG’s August 2024 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.